In an attempt to bring some vibrancy to our studies of ancient Greece, my kids are reporting on what they have learned by inference through reading an assigned book of the Odyssey. I've been Googling this morning and have uncovered information that I need to double check for reliable sources.

Anyway, I found this interesting information on a site for elementary school-aged kids:

"The narrow piece of land that joins the southernmost part of Greece to the mainland is called the Isthmus of Corinth. Periander built a stone track across it, so that ships could be dragged over the land from coast to coast (by large numbers of slaves). Corinth made money by charging a toll. "

This passage also mentioned Periander, but more in the sense of wanting a canal:

"In the late seventh or early sixth century BC, the tyrants of Corinth constructed Š paved road called the Diolkos which led from Schinous on the Saronic Gulf to Poseidonia on the Gulf of Corinth. The Dioikos was 3-3.5 m. wide, and it was paved with blocks of limestone set in Š deep layer of sand and gravel. Along this ran the Ôlkos, Š wheeled vehicle on which ships were borne overland from one side of the Isthmus to the other. Sections of the Diolkos can still be seen today; the deep parallel ruts in the road, 1.50 m. apart, are the marks left by the wheels of the olkos. "

There's a terrific photo on the second site of the tracks on which the ships were moved across the isthmus:

you might want to have the kids look up the meaning of portage, and see what all the cities have in common, and have them think about how human have resolved the same problems, time and time again, with similar solutions.

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